Hewett completes his career Grand Slam with maiden Wimbledon triumph
Great Britain's Alfie Hewett has reached the promised land by sealing his maiden Wimbledon men’s title and becoming just the fourth wheelchair tennis player to complete the career Grand Slam in singles.
Hewett has suffered the pain of defeat here on two previous occasions, losing the final at his home Grand Slam in both 2022 and 2023 to the grand master Shingo Kunieda and his protégé Tokito Oda respectively.
Whether third time lucky or otherwise, the Norwich-born 26-year-old appeared on a mission and it seemed implausible that he would fall short and let his latest opportunity slip by.
He duly dispatched Spain’s Martin de la Puente 6-2 6-3 on Court No. 1. De La Puente, however, deserves immense praise for his performances this week and was a credit to himself and his nation as he contested his maiden Grand Slam singles final.
But today was Hewett’s day and he becomes just the second British player to win a Wimbledon singles title and first since Gordon Reid in 2016. This was his ninth Grand Slam singles title and 30th overall when factoring in doubles.
“I'm not a massively spiritual person or anything like that,” said Hewett. “I just felt like something was holding me back over these last few years. It was making me wait for a reason. Today was that reason.
“To be out there in front of 10,000 people, Court No. 1, literally everyone there, aside my brother who I would want to be there, it just felt like it had a meant-to-be feeling today.
“To be able to live a dream out there today and make a memory that will go down in history for everyone around me is a special feeling."
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Hewett's latest double triumph also arrived today as he and Reid joined forces once again to defeat Japanese duo Oda and Takuya Miki 6-4 7-6(2) for the pair's sixth Wimbledon doubles crown.
But it was very much Hewett's singles title here which resonated the most on a truly special day for British wheelchair tennis, particularly given those near misses of recent years.
“Winning Wimbledon was weighing heavy on my shoulders for a long time,” he added. “If I'm being honest, from the minute I lost last year I don't think there has been a single day that I didn't think about being back here and changing the narrative.
“When you've won seven out of the eight Grand Slams, a lot of people talk about the eighth – and it had to be this one. For a British player to win Wimbledon, it's a huge thing.
“Selfishly, to be able to get the career Grand Slam means everything. I know only one other male player in wheelchair tennis that has done that, which is Shingo Kunieda and he’s not a bad person to be alongside.
“Every year you think, ‘is it going to be my year?’. My expectations are high being Top 2 in the world for the last three or four years. Even just making the final isn't good enough. A lot of people would be happy for that, but not me.
“Today was a life-long ambition and I’ve never seen half my team cry before, so that was new and got me choked up. They've walked away feeling just as devastated and disappointed over the last few years.
“As I say, this is special and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.”